Concordia- Chicago is preseason pick for NAC football title

Concordia Chicago was the coaches choice in the Northern
Athletics Conference preseason football poll, followed by Lakeland
and Concordia Wisconsin, the conference announced Wednesday.

The Cougars are coming off their best campaign in the program's
87-year history with an 8-2 overall record and 5-2 in the NAC. They
finished in a three-way tie for second place and just a game back
of 2009 champions Lakeland. The top scoring team in the NAC returns
their quarterback and NAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year Mike
Marotta and the league's top rusher Khyre Copeland.

Lakeland, picked second in the poll, finished last season at 6-5
overall and 6-1 in the NAC. The Muskies made their second
appearance in the NCAA III Championship, falling to eventual
champion UW-Whitewater in a first round game last season.

Rockford kicks off the 2010 season with a Thursday, Sept. 2,
nonconference game at the University of Dubuque, while the seven
other NAC teams open play with nonconference games on Saturday,
Sept. 4. Conference play begins on Saturday, Oct. 2, and concludes
on Saturday, Nov. 13.

The NAC champion becomes the conference's automatic qualifier in
the 2010 NCAA III Football Championship.